Forget December
by cashew
Summary: This month only would be so lonely and not so homely anymore...After a boring Winter Break Ginny assigns herself a task to add excitement to things: befriend Draco Malfoy. Things should definitely get interesting.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer—The song "Forget December" belongs to Something Corporate. I really only borrowed the title and a few lines from the song for the summary, it loosely gave me the idea for this plot…It's really good song, by the way, I highly recommend the band. And I'll try not to make it too "Christmassy" since Christmas is long over. That's all.

Forget December

She had been watching him all day. Well, to be frank, she had been watching him all week. It had been nearing the end of Winter Break and Ginny Weasley was utterly bored. She had grown tired of being in Ron, Harry, and Hermione's company and had decided that she would spend the rest of the break apart from them. Unfortunately, they were the only people in Gryffindor save herself who had stayed behind at Hogwarts for the break. So spending her remaining time away from them basically meant spending her time alone.

And when she was alone, she grew bored. And when she was bored, she plotted. And when she plotted, well…things got interesting. So during one of her afternoons alone, Ginny had decided that she was going to take Dumbledore's advice and improve a relationship with a member from another house. He had made a big, fancy speech about it at the beginning of the term. Talked about how everyone needed to unify themselves and put aside these petty house differences. Well, if Dumbledore wanted it, then why not? Ginny grinned slowly, surely no one could object to her following the Headmaster's orders. She was nothing if not an obedient and loyal Hogwarts student. Or so she would tell her mother if Molly Weasley ever caught wind of her daughter's activities.

Ginny mulled over Dumbledore's suggestion for an hour or so and contemplated who she should make her new friend. If this was going to entertain her for the rest of break, she reasoned that this friendship should be difficult to obtain. A challenge, if you will. And Ginny did so love a challenge.

She decided that the person should be from Slytherin as the friendship of a Slytherin would surely be the hardest to gain and would therefore entertain her longer. After all, she was fairly sure that there was a Slytherin bylaw somewhere forbidding them from consorting with Gryffindors such as herself. This would most certainly explain that scrunched constipated look Malfoy got whenever they exchanged insults in the halls. Perhaps he really wanted to say "Your hair looks nice today, Ginny," but Slytherin evil magic bound him to tirelessly call her family poor. Or perhaps not. In any matter it would most definitely be a challenge. The only question remaining was who?

Most of the Slytherins had gone home for break, too. She thought of the ones remaining: Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini. She scrunched up her nose, not the most appealing bunch. Crabbe and Goyle were immediately crossed off; their friendship was not something she was sure she could handle. Parkinson…well, she was fairly sure that Pansy would challenge her to a duel before Ginny could say two words. She could take Pansy in a duel, of course, but dueling is not a basis for a friendly relationship. Plus, Ginny thought with a shrug, Pansy was a bitch and if she wanted to spend her holiday girl-fighting over petty things then she would have accepted Lavender's invitation to spend the break with most of the girls of Gryffindor at the Brown's residence.

So that left Malfoy and Zabini. Malfoy wasn't exactly a better pick than Parkinson. In fact, he was probably much worse. Although, he certainly would be a challenge…and it definitely would hack off Ron, something she had been meaning to for a few weeks now.

But befriending him meant that she would actually have to speak with him…in a pleasant tone. Was hacking off Ron worth that pain?

"Ginny!"

"Speak of the devil," Ginny mumbled as her brother came dangerously close to smashing into her face as he ran toward her.

"I have been looking _everywhere _for you! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Do you?"

Ginny grimaced. She could recall a time a few years ago when Ron couldn't care less where she was. However, she had developed and when other boys took notice, so did Ron. She had heard from Harry that a group of boys from Ron's year were discussing the best looking girls in the school—a conversation Ron was keen to participate in until his baby sister's name came up. Apparently, one brave soul mentioned her as one of the finest girls in Hogwarts and the rest agreed, save Ron. Ron was livid and had seen it as his new mission in life to protect her from boys and their raging hormones.

So far he'd been going strong at his role of protector for two solid months. He didn't show any sign of losing interest soon either, and she was getting damn tired of it. She wanted a date to Hogsmeade sometime this year and she wasn't likely to get it with Ron scaring off anyone with a Y chromosome who came within six feet of her.

"Where have you been?" Ron demanded.

"None of your bloody business," she rebutted.

"I'll owl Mum and then we'll see whose business it is!"

"Still not yours," Ginny said tersely. "Leave. Me. Alone, _Ronald_. Go find a life, please, and stay out of mine."

"Ginny," he sighed, "you don't understand how the male mind works. If I left you alone…" he shuddered dramatically, "well, who _knows _what could happen to you."

Ginny dropped her mouth in mock-horror. "I could…why, Ron, I could lose my virtue!"

He nodded wisely. "It is very possible. But I am here to protect you, so you needn't fear."

She rolled her eyes and resumed all the role of indignant sister. "Wait, it's just too bad that I already lost said virtue. It's a shame, really."

"You…you…_what_!"

Ginny sighed and nodded her head sadly, "Truly a shame. Well, if you'll excuse me I have some friends to make."

She ignored his cries of protest as she skipped back into the castle. Sadly, her virtue was still fully intact. As if she was ever given enough privacy to do anything virtue-losing worthy. But Ron didn't have to know that. And if Ron wanted to act like a bloody buffoon then she would give him reason to—even if that reason required her to play nice with the epitome of Slytherin evil.

The only flaw in her brilliant plan was that she wasn't entirely sure how to go about this befriending wickedness thing. It was unlikely to be very easy. Of course it would take time and effort, she was fully willing to give one hundred and ten percent to the cause, but where to begin? She somehow doubted that walking up to Malfoy and saying "Hey, do you want to be my new friend?" would work out very well.

She decided the best way to go about would probably just let things fall into place. Fred and George had always taught her if a prank were meant to happen then it would. Of course, they then added that if things didn't happen then you simply create circumstances forcing them to.

So she had ended up in the Great Hall watching Malfoy and contemplating how to begin her mission. Ginny glanced down at her watch yet again—how long did the boy fancy staying the Great Hall? She'd been watching and waiting for a good three hours now. He had to be the slowest eater to ever walk the earth.

However, Ginny soon realized that thanks to Malfoy's unbelievably slow eating habits they were now the only two people left in the Hall. Even Dumbledore had given up and retired to his office. This, she decided, was just the opportunity which she had been waiting for.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the Slytherin table and took a seat. She watched with peaked interest as Malfoy slowly looked up from his food to stare at her incredulously.

"You are the slowest eater I have ever seen," Ginny stated simply.

"Some of us believe in table manners, Weasley. Not everyone can wolf down food like so many pigs."

"This from the boy who spends the majority of his free time with Crabbe and Goyle…"

Seeing that he was now just looking angry, Ginny drummed her fingers along the table in a bored fashion. This was not working all that well.

"Do you mind?" he said finally.

"Mind what?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "You could wake the dead with that racket you are making, Weasley."

Ginny blushed good-naturedly as she steadied her hands. "Oh. Right."

"I believe there is food left at your table," he commented.

"There is," she agreed. "But I thought…well, you know, that I would check out your food situation."

"Pardon?"

"Well maybe your food is better than ours. This is potentially important, Malfoy." Seeing Malfoy reach for his wand, Ginny quickly commented, "I do hope you haven't forgotten my Bat Bogey Hex."

"Believe me, Weasley, I have not forgotten." He raised his wand, "And I have so been meaning to pay you back for that 'fun' experience."

"Hey! You had me locked in an office with _Umbridge_; I believe I am entitled to defend myself. That woman was—is—clinically insane. I feared for my life."

He stared on, unimpressed. "Nevertheless, you are still here and that presents a problem. Because, you see, I don't like you. The sight of you is making my physically ill and I would so like to finish my dinner but I am afraid I might become nauseous if forced to continue in conversation with you."

"Right…The thing is, Malfoy, I wondering if you would…be my friend."

"Your what?"

"My friend."

"I realize that trailing after Potter has to be unappealing, but honestly. Steal a cat for companionship or something—since I know you can't afford to buy one."

"Wow, commenting on my lack of money. That's a new one, truly. Fine, if you wish to go the insult route then I shall be forced to follow. Hmm…Malferrot?—no, it's been done. Let's see, an insult for Malfoy…Junior Death Eater? Your mother is so ugly next to her Snape would be attractive? Wait, I have it. Your chin is really pointy."

"That's your insult?"

"Yeah. I'm serious, you know. Your chin is abnormally pointy. If you fell into someone you would probably cut them with your chin."

He touched his chin self-consciously. "My chin is a strong Malfoy trait. I have a muscular jaw line, not a 'pointy' chin."

"If you say so. Well, now that that is done—what do you say to the friendship?"

"I say no with the fury of a thousand suns, Weasley."

"See, just from that, though, I think it would be in your best interest to say yes. 'Fury of a thousand suns'…you really need to get out more if you're coming up with things like that. You know who else talks like that—Hermione."

He cringed noticeably. "I do _not_ speak in the same manner as the mudblood."

Ginny nodded condescendingly, "Right. Just keep repeating that to yourself. And after you do that you can go read Hogwarts: A History."

"That book is not that bad—" he cut himself off and let out a string of curses.

Ginny grinned triumphantly, "Case in point, Malfoy."

Draco angrily thrust himself up from the table. "I've lost my appetite," he said spitefully before stalking out of the Great Hall.

Ginny merely continued smiling as she poured herself a glass of Slytherin Pumpkin Juice. "Game on, Malfoy," she toasted to his retreating back.

* * *


	2. Chapter Two

Forget December

Chapter Two

Ginny spent the following day doing what she did best—being sneaky. She trailed Malfoy throughout the castle, learning all she could about him. And what she learned, she didn't necessarily like, but she didn't mind him as much as she thought she would.

As he went on with his normal day she laughed silently. He was not nearly as good as he thought he was. She had been following him all day and he had yet to notice—how thick could one boy possibly be?

Granted, she had borrowed (well, alright, stolen) Harry's cloak to complete the task of following him. But if someone were tracking her all day, invisible or not, she was sure that she would catch them.

In fact, just last month she had. Ron had been attempting to catch her doing something with some boy or another and had followed her around the castle, wrapped in his best friend's cloak. She, of course, had found him out within half an hour.

Draco Malfoy had been followed for a good three hours and had yet to even show signs of suspicion.

Chalk up five points for Ginny Weasley, she thought to herself.

As she continued to mentally congratulate herself on her excellent skills on spying Ginny failed to pay attention to the staircase—which had chosen to move—and promptly fell over. Dense as she found Malfoy to be, there was no doubt he had not taken notice of her clumsy, noisy fall.

Especially since one of her trainers was now exposed from under the cloak.

She hurriedly pulled her foot back under but it made little difference. Malfoy ripped the cloak off her with a savage anger.

Upon seeing her, though, his expression turned into one of surprise. "Weasley?" he said in an incredulous tone.

She stared defiantly up at him, "Yeah?"

He still held the cloak in his hands, "And just where did _you_ come across an invisibility cloak? Stole it, no doubt—I know you can't afford one of these."

She sneered at him in a way that was eerily similar to his own facial expression. "Yeah and neither can you. Jealous, Malfoy? Everyone knows you've been trying to get your hands on an invisibility cloak for years."

He threw the cloak back down at her, "Regardless of that, Weasley—why in the bloody hell were you following me? Spying for Potter? Should've known he'd leave his dirty work to his fan club…"

"I'm not spying for Harry," she corrected with a scowl, "and I am most certainly not a member of his fan club." _Anymore_, she added silently.

"Right, well that's just fine and dandy, Weasley, but I'd appreciate it if you would just _leave me alone_!"

"I can't," she said with a smile. "I told you already, I'm determined to be your friend."

"Why would you want to be my friend?" he asked in an exasperated tone.

"To hack off Ron," she responded cheekily.

"Yeah well go find some other way to hack off your ape of a brother," he said gloomily, "go snog Potter or something."

"I would, but the thing is that Ron tries to kill any guy who comes near me anymore."

He narrowed his eyes, "So you're looking to get me murdered by your brother?"

Ginny appeared thoughtful for a moment. "No," she said slowly, "that isn't really the main goal—a cheery side-benefit perhaps, but not the _key _reasoning for my mission."

"Let me make something clear to you, Weasley. I don't like you. I think you are a poor excuse for a witch and the worst sort of Gryffindor. I have no desire to be your friend or to even talk to you."

"But tell me, do you think I'm pretty? Because I simply couldn't stand it if I were ugly on top of all those other faults!" Ginny grinned, amused by her own sarcastic comments.

Draco peered at her darkly, "Maybe if your hair weren't such a disgusting shade of red you'd be tolerable."

Ginny laughed openly at this. "And maybe if your hair weren't as white as my grandpa's _you'd_ be tolerable."

He turned to leave but discovered that when the staircase had moved it had left them stranded. Draco scowled at Ginny as if this were entirely her fault, "Fix this!"

She stared for a moment to determine if he was serious. Once she decided he was, Ginny answered, "Sure, Malfoy just let me clap my hands and make it all better."

He stomped his foot, "I will not be stuck here with you!"

"Well," she said as she looked over the edge, "you could always jump. That'd make quite a few people happy, actually."

"Or I could push you off."

She gripped the side of the stairwell, just to be safe. "You'd be thrown in Azkaban."

"Some things are worth prison, Weasley."

"Well I'm sure your father would have loads to say on that subject," Ginny responded before she could bite her tongue.

Obviously, it wasn't the best thing to say to the boy she was attempting to befriend.

"Never," he said in a low tone, "ever talk about my father. Do you comprehend me, Weasley, or should I use smaller words?"

Ginny licked her lips out of nervous habit. "The stairwells never stay in the same place for long," she said for a subject change, "so we should be able to leave in a few minutes."

Draco slumped against the side of the banister, looking agitated. "Dumbledore would have something as needless as moving stairs," he said.

"Dumbledore didn't build Hogwarts you imbecile. It was probably your 'dear' Salazar Slytherin who came up this brilliant idea."

"Slytherin would have never come up with such a stupid idea," Draco defended passionately. "Now _Gryffindor _on the other hand…"

"Gryffindor was too busy building the Quidditch Patch," Ginny said breezily. She shrugged, "It was probably Helga Hufflepuff, anyway."

Draco grunted in agreement, "A Hufflepuff would think this was a good idea."

Ginny grinned at him, "So do you want to eat dinner with me tonight?"

Draco's jaw dropped and he looked affronted. "No! For the last time, Weasley, I want nothing to do with you!"

"Come on," she goaded, "I'll have you know that I'm very pleasant dinner company. I can give you a list of references if you like."

"I don't want a list of references, I don't want to eat dinner with you, and I don't want to talk to you! Just stop, Weasley—go find someone else to annoy."

"Well, I suppose I could just substitute Zabini. After all, one Slytherin git is as good as the other to befriend, right?"

"Zabini is a wanker," Draco commented darkly.

"Like it matters to you if I become friends with him or not," Ginny said as Draco stumbled into her trap.

"It doesn't. I hear you get around anyway so it should quite please Zabini that you've finally gotten around to him. He's been damn near obsessed with you since last year."

Ginny batted her eyelashes innocently, "Who, me? I can't imagine why he'd have any interest in me at all, but that is so flattering to hear. Perhaps dear Blaise and I can get together and who knows—maybe you'll be seeing me in your common room!"

Draco pounded his fist into the side of the stairs, "No! I'll not have some ruddy Gryffindor in the Slytherin common room! You stay away from Zabini."

"Well you said yourself that he fancies me—"

"He fancies your body," Draco interrupted crudely, "nothing more."

"Nevertheless, even a purely sexual relationship could last well into the year…yes; I expect you'll be seeing me in your common room and in your dorm room quite often."

"Fine!" Draco yelled. "I'll have bloody dinner with you if it means you'll stay away from Zabini and therefore out of Slytherin."

Ginny smiled, "But of course, Draco. I'd never want to upset a friend."

He appeared to be ill at her words but she didn't notice for long because the stairwell finally chose to move.

She hopped down the stairs and gave Draco a small wave, "I'll see you at dinner," she said cheerfully.

If possible, Draco looked more nauseated.

* * *


End file.
